Zardari instructed Haqqani on memo: Mansoor Ijaz

Islamabad: Pakistani American businessman Mansoor Ijaz said Thursday that Husain Haqqani, Islamabad`s former envoy to the US, had "directives" from Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on delivering a memo to Washington appealing for help in the wake of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden`s killing last year.

"It was my understanding that Haqqani had directives from the Pakistani President," the Geo News quoted Ijaz as saying while recording his testimony before a judicial commission from the Pakistani High Commision in London.

"Haqqani said (in the memo) that the civilian government needs to be strengthened against the `bad boys`", Ijaz added.

The commission earlier instructed Ijaz to help Haqqani`s counsel if he wanted to cross-examine him and that the forensic examination of evidence at the moment was premature.

The Supreme Court-appointed commission is probing Ijaz`s claim to have last year delivered a secret memo to then US joint chiefs chairman Admiral Mike Mullen at the behest of Haqqani and the Pakistani government.

The memo said that Zardari feared a coup after Osama was killed last May by US commandos. The exposure of the memo triggered a scandal and cost Haqqani his job.